


a little hope

by demonicneonfishy



Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [3]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Gen, I don't know how to tag this, Pre-Canon, Quynh | Noriko-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29183082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonicneonfishy/pseuds/demonicneonfishy
Summary: There is a boy they send to watch her. Why, she doesn’t know. But it is an opportunity, and Quýnh will take what she can get.-On the boat after they take her from Andromache, Quýnh meets a young crewmember.
Series: february angst-fest (febuwhump 2021) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141784
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	a little hope

**Author's Note:**

> day 3 of febuwhump 2021  
> prompt: imprisonment

When they had put her in the coffin, Quýnh had screamed and screamed and screamed for Andromache until her throat had burned. But she hadn’t stopped, not until she could no longer hear Andromache’s answering screams.

Only then had she fallen silent. Now, she watches from her iron prison, focused only on finding a way out and back to Andromache. She’ll swim back if she has to.

There is a boy they send to watch her. Why, she doesn’t know. But it is an opportunity, and Quýnh will take what she can get.

He’s younger than anyone else she’s been able to catch a glimpse of - fifteen, sixteen maybe, with messy brown hair and wide blue eyes that remind her a little of Nico. She misses him, misses both of her little brothers.

She’ll find her way back to them, somehow.

On the first day, the boy doesn’t say a word, standing with his back to her, facing the entrance to the hold. He turns around, once, to look inside her coffin, and flinches when she looks right back at him.

On the second day, he seems less nervous, but still doesn’t come too close.

On the third, she asks him, “What’s your name?”

“Tommy,” he says quietly.

_ He’s so young. T oo young to be here _ , she thinks.

“How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

So she was right.

“Are you scared of me?”

“They told me you were a witch. A monster.”

Quýnh almost laughs at that. “Not a witch, little one. Just a normal woman who cannot die.”

“What’s your name?” he asks on the fourth day.

“Quýnh,” she tells him.

* * *

They do not feed her. Or give her water. She dies of dehydration too many times to count, and hunger claws at her stomach.

Tommy begins to relax with her, asking more and more questions. She answers them, to the best of her ability, and asks her own questions. She learns his father died when he was young, that he took this job to support his mother and sisters, and in return tells him stories of her family. Of Nico, her kind, reserved, deadly little brother, his skill with a sword and accuracy with a crossbow, his tendency to hum quietly to himself whenever he’s bored. Of Yusuf, Nico’s guiding light, and his warmth, his easy laughter, his passion for telling stories whether true or fantastical. Of Andromache, her eternal warrior, her wisdom and her gentleness and her strength in battle. 

Tommy’s eyes light up as he listens to her. Slowly, slowly, he becomes more confident, asks questions, laughs with her. 

On the eighth day, he sits leaning against the coffin and says, “I don’t think you’re a demon.”

She stops mid-sentence. “No?”

“No,” he says decidedly. “I think if you were a demon, you would try to do evil. But you do good instead, so you can’t be a demon.”

“Then what am I?”

“I think you’re an angel.”

She smiles, even though she knows he can’t see it. 

“Do you miss them?” he asks.

Her family, he means. “Yes,” she answers truthfully. “With my whole heart.”

“Will you die? If they drop you into the sea?”

“I don’t know,” she tells him. “I will drown, yes, but… I will come back.”

And drown again. And again. And again. The thought makes her feel sick.

“That’s horrible,” Tommy whispers. “They can’t do that to you.”

Quýnh laughs sadly. “They think I’m a witch, little one. They are frightened. They do not know what will happen.”

“They must know. If you don’t die…” Tommy scrambles to his feet, stepping back so she can see him. With a start, she realises there are tears in his eyes.

“I will be okay,” she says, without really believing it. 

“I’ll tell them to stop. I’ll explain everything.”

“You cannot tell them about the others, do you hear me?” Quýnh says. “I will not have them meeting the same fate.”

“I won’t, I promise.” He looks at her, determined. “But you’ll see them again.”

Before she can say anything else, he leaves.

* * *

Tommy doesn’t come back, and Quýnh worries about him. She hopes they haven’t punished him too badly. He’s so sweet, so kind, and she doesn’t want them to break that part of him.

She can’t see the sun anymore, so she has no idea how long it is until he comes bursting back into the hold, tears in his eyes.

“I tried but I couldn’t stop them- they wouldn’t let me come back here- everyone’s asleep right now, they don’t know I’m here-”

“Slow down,” she tells him. “Take a deep breath.”

He obeys, then looks up at her. “They’re dropping you in the morning.”

It feels like being punched in the gut. For the first time, Quýnh realises that there is no way out of this for her.

“Listen to me, Tommy,” she says hurriedly. “There is nothing more you can do for me. But the others may come looking for you, do you understand?”

Tommy nods. 

“Good. Now, memorise what I am about to tell you.” She switches to Vietnamese, and says, “ _ Spare him, my heart. There are still good people in this world, and he is one of them. I love you, Andromache, beyond all else. _ ”

Tommy repeats it with a few pronunciation errors, and then again and again until he gets it right.

“When Andromache finds you, tell her what I just told you.”

“What does it mean?”

“That is not important. Get off this ship as soon as you can, little one, go home. When they find you, they can help take care of your family.”

Tommy nods again.

“Good boy. Now go, before they wake.”

“What about you?”

Quýnh tries to smile. “You have done everything you can, Tommy. I will not forget that. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” Tommy whispers.

“Go,” she tells him, and he looks at her one last time before leaving.

* * *

They take her coffin to the deck, and she does not say a word.

She watches them as they push her towards the edge. Tommy is lingering on the edge of the group, watching her with a torn expression.

_ Oh, little one, you should not have to see this,  _ she thinks.

She looks up at the sky, maybe for the last time. Maybe she will die down there, like Lykon had.

_ Andromache, _ she thinks, _Andromache, my love,_ _ don’t forget me- _

* * *

A year later, the door to Tommy’s back room is broken down by a woman with a tangled mess of dark hair and fierce blue eyes, wielding an axe.

Tommy leaps to his feet as the woman stalks towards him. Her eyes are shadowed, as if she doesn’t sleep much. He knows her, even if they have never met.

“Andromache,” he says, and the woman freezes. Behind her, two others enter the room - a man with pale eyes, and another with dark curls.

“Who are you?” Andromache asks, lifting her axe.

“Andromache,” the pale-eyed man says firmly, grabbing her arm and pulling her back sharply. 

“My name is Tommy. I was- I was on the ship. The one that took her. Quýnh.”

Andromache flinches at the name. “How do you know her name?”

“She told me. And she told me to tell you…”

He repeats the message that Quýnh had given him in the hold, the one he’d repeated to himself every night after that, the one he’d set to a tune and sung to himself so he didn’t forget it. 

Andromache pales as he speaks, her eyes filling with tears. She drops her axe, and the pale-eyed man - Nicoló, his name is Nicoló - looks at Tommy.

“Perhaps,” he says in accented English, “it would be best if you begin from the beginning.”

* * *

“You know where she could be?” Yusuf asks, his hand on Andromache’s shoulder. 

“I tried to find as much information as I could. She told me you’d come looking for me eventually,” Tommy explains.

Nicoló and Yusuf exchange a look. Andromache stands up. “Then you’re going to help us.” Her earlier vulnerability is gone, replaced only by single-minded focus. 

“Of course,” Tommy says. “For as long as I can.”

“We’ll find you in the morning,” Andromache says, and walks out.

“Thank you,” Yusuf tells him, and Nicoló nods before following him out.

* * *

(After that, Tommy travels with them for decades - for the rest of his life, helping them search for the one they’d lost to the waves.)

**Author's Note:**

> i love the idea of the guard connecting with people throughout history and though about quynh and yeah. this happened!  
> -  
> i'm demonicneonfishy on tumblr too if you wanna come say hi!


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